The Shadows In A Valley Are Made By Light
by Where-We-Are-Just-And-Loyal
Summary: "If this was the Sorting Hat, I wasn't sure if I could trust it all that much, but hey, YOLO, right?"/"My name is Eileen. I'm an exchange student from America."/"It nearly rivaled the Ilvermorny Thanksgiving feast."/"The whole scene and the smells made me nauseous."/"Okay, that was my anxiety speaking" **I'VE BEEN ON HIATUS FOR A WHILE BUT I MIGHT START WRITING AGAIN**
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I'm not JKR, peeps.

* * *

I placed my hairbrush slowly in my suitcase. I was moving to England for a year, transferring schools and going to Hogwarts rather than Ilvermorny for my fourth year of school. My sister went to Mahoutokoro, the wizarding school in Japan, through the same program which is also where my dad wanted me to go, but I prefer Hogwarts. I was going to miss my family and friends, but I was more worried about my anxiety.

But I guess I should explain who I am. I am a 14-year-old American witch named Eileen Holcombe. My parents are both No-Maj-Born so we tend to know more about No-Maj stuff than others. I have an older sister and I live in the Midwest U.S. I go to the American school of witchcraft and wizardry, Ilvermorny, where I am a Horned Serpent, but this story isn't about that. This is the story of when I was British for a year.

I dug through my drawers and closet finding every little item I might need in my venture to Hogwarts as my new kitten, Misty, named for her silver tabby fur, sleeps on my pillow. As I pulled out jeans and shirts and skirts and everything else I was going to need for the year, I ran through my mental list. Pants, check. Skirts, check. Shirts, check. Robes, check. Underwear, check. God, that would be so embarrassing if I had to borrow underwear. I shuddered. Woger, check. I kissed my teddy bear's head as I shoved him in my backpack.

I picked up my phone as it dinged. My cousin. "Yo dudebro," she sent. It's a running joke, you see. We were trying to be like weird boys, so she said "yo dude" and I combined it with "bro" to make "dudebro". I dropped my phone on my bed and went back to trying to zip my suitcase.

"Need help?" I looked up at the sound of my sister's voice.

"No, I've got it," I said, finally getting the zipper closed.

"Are you nervous?" Amelia asked.

"Duh," I rolled my eyes.

"You'll be fine."

"I know. I hope," I muttered quietly.

"Ohhh, my little sissy's all grown up!" she teased, a sparkle in her hazel eyes. They were the same color as mine and my dad's. I swatted my sister away.

"I'm gonna go say bye to MK," I said. Amelia made a face and left the room. I followed her, dashing through the house looking for my old cat. I located her sleeping in the sun and picked her up, snuggling into her fur.

"I'm gonna miss you, Mama Kitty." She purred into my arms and I waved her stinky breath away. "Though I'm not gonna miss that." I gave her one last squeeze and went back to my room, changing into comfy jeans and a deep purple T-shirt for my floo journey to the MACUSA. From the International Travel Department there, I was going to floo to the Department of Magical Cooperation in the Ministry of Magic. There, the family I would be staying with for the holidays was going to pick me up.

I extracted the folder of letters and forms from underneath my backpack and opened it. Hermione, Ron, Rose, and Hugo Weasley. That was the family I was staying with. We had sent lots of letters to each other over the course of the past couple of months and I already liked them. Apparently, they had a huge extended family that was super close. It must be nice to have so many people that you were close to. I'd always been sort of a loner. I had friends, sure, but there was no one that I could tell everything to other than my cousin, but she lived on the west coast (not to mention she's a No-Maj). Magical transportation made life easier, but the MACUSA was very uptight about magic usage near muggles, aka, everywhere that isn't your private home or a magical town.

"Okay, are you packed?" my mom asked, walking into the room.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm nervous, though."

"You'll have so much fun. I wish we had these types of opportunities in my time," she replied. I smiled and she enveloped me in a hug. "Here, let me put your hair up so that it doesn't get in the way of the floo." Mom grabbed a hair tie and wound it around my dirty blonde hair, binding it into a ponytail. I grumbled.

"It's fine!" I swatted her hand away but left the ponytail in.

"Ready?" my dad asked, entering the room.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" I said.

"Okay, we're all going to take you to the MACUSA and then say bye to you," Mom said. I nodded and grabbed my backpack, slinging it over my shoulder and righting my suitcase. I picked up Misty and held her close. She snuggled her floofness under my chin and I smiled, clearing my head of toxic thoughts.

"Let's go."

* * *

A/N: So, I hope you all like it! This is an idea I've had for a while, so I hope it isn't too overused or anything. Anyway, please review!

W-W-A-J-A-L


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I'm not JKR

* * *

I tumbled out of the fireplace, my clothes and suitcase covered in soot and Misty struggling to free herself from my grasp. I let go of the handle of my suitcase and brushed some of the soot off myself. I glanced up and caught sight of a tall, ginger-haired man standing next to a woman with bushy brown hair. They were talking to an official looking wizard who was holding a clipboard and quill. Two kids about my age, a boy and a girl, were roughhousing. The girl had curly hair the same shade of red as the man, as did the boy with her.

"Hello, dear. I'm guessing that your name is Eileen Holcombe?" a stout witch in navy robes asked. I nodded mutely. "And you are from America?"

"Yeah," I said. She pursed her lips and scratched something out on the parchment she was holding.

"Follow me," she instructed, turning on her heel and walking towards the family I'd just observed. As we neared the family, the two kids stopped wrestling and laughing and watched me. I hugged Misty awkwardly to my body and she meowed.

"These are the Weasleys, who as you know are the family you'll be staying with," the stout witch said. "I'm going to leave you with them." She turned and left. The Weasleys smiled at me and the mom stepped forward.

"Hi, I'm Hermione," she said, smiling.

"Hi," I replied. Her kind smile made me feel more at ease.

"And I'm Ron, the dad here," the tall man joked.

"I'm Rose," the girl said. Along with her bushy red hair, she had the bluest eyes I had ever seen. They were the exact same shade as her dad's.

"And I'm Hugo," said her brother. He had red hair also, but the warm brown eyes of his mother.

"Nice to meet you," I said. "Erm, what am I supposed to, er, do, go?" Hermione saved me.

"You just have to sign this sheet and we can go. We've got it sorted with the Ministry," she said. I nodded and took the quill, quickly skimming over the page and signing my name at the bottom. The quill was kind of hard to use, since we use regular pens and pencils at Ilvermorny. I handed it back to the man.

"Okay, you lot are free to go now," he said.

"Okay, see you, Jon," Hermione said. I followed the family out of the room. As I walked, Rose fell into step beside me.

"So, are you excited about going to Hogwarts?" she asked.

"Well, I'm mostly excited, but I'm kinda nervous," I replied, adjusting my grip on Misty.

"You talk weird," Hugo informed me.

"Shut up, Hugh," Rose muttered, flicking a strand of hair over her shoulder.

"So, do you," I informed him. "So," I said, changing the topic. "You're fourteen," I indicated Rose, "and you're twelve?"

"The most annoying twelve possible," Rose said, as Hugo said, "The most annoying fourteen." I laughed.

"Don't worry, I've got an eighteen-year-old sister, though we're really close."

"We're really close, too. We just annoy each other a lot."

"Who doesn't?" I asked. Rose smiled appreciatively.

"Hey, Dad?" she hurried up behind her dad and tapped him on the shoulder.

"What is it, Rosie?" Ron turned to his daughter.

"Where are we having dinner tonight?" Rose asked.

I wrinkled my brow in confusion.

"Home. We thought it best not to subject Eileen to the Burrow too early," he chuckled, turning to me. "Are you tired or anything?"

"No, it's only 11-ish in the morning at home," I said.

"Ah, right," Ron acknowledged.

We entered a huge atrium where witches and wizards were flooing in through the fireplaces lining the walls, others were apparating in or out, while still others were chatting and walking. There was a huge golden fountain in the shape of an M in the middle of the room.

"We're going to floo home," Hermione said, handing around a plastic baggie of floo powder. We each took a handful of the powder. Rose and Hugo went first, bursting into flames. Hermione turned to me. "Say 'Granger-Weasley house'." I nodded in understanding.

"Do you want me to take anything?" Ron offered.

"Oh, that would be great, thanks!" I said. He took my suitcase and I stepped into the fireplace, throwing down the powder and shouting my destination. I spun through the flames and out into a comfortable looking living room. I scooted out of the way when the flames turned green again, and bumped into a bookcase.

"Oh, sorry," I muttered. Hermione appeared through the fireplace last.

"Rose!" she said. "Why don't you show Eileen to your room? We can have dinner then." Rose grabbed my hand and Hugo grabbed my suitcase. We went up some stairs, Hugo groaning about my suitcase causing me to offer to carry it and him to refuse.

"So, this is my parents' bedroom," Rose indicated a door to our left.

"This is mine," Hugo said as we passed an open door.

"Here's the bathroom, and my room," Rose pushed open a door and I followed her into it, setting Misty down on the floor. She meowed and curled up in what I call her 'chicken position' and began cleaning herself. Hugo dropped my suitcase and flopped down on a messy bed that I assumed was Rose's.

"Your bed is over there," Rose said, pointing at a twin bed covered with a patchwork quilt. I took my backpack off and stretched out on the bed, groaning.

"Ugh, flooing across half a country and the ocean is not something I'd recommend," I muttered. Rose laughed and sat on her bed.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. _Yes!_ I thought _. Oh shit. This is gonna be hard_. I felt a prickling on the back of my neck.

"Uh, yeah," I said rather lamely.

"Come on," I followed her and Hugo down the stairs to the kitchen, taking it all in as I went.

The living room walls were lined with pictures of the family and many people with red hair similar to the family's and bookshelves stuffed with books. There was a comfy looking couch and chairs and magical plants were sitting on tables. The place had a very homey feel to it.

The kitchen was painted a pretty green and had a circular table in the center of it. Ron was pulling a shepherd's pie out of the oven while Hermione set the table.

"Wash up, then we can eat," she said. Rose led me over to the sink where we washed our hands, then we sat around the table. Ron dug a spoon into the pie and served us. As he served me, I felt my breathing quicken a little and took deep breaths. _Shut UP brain!_ I told myself as we began to eat.

"So, Eileen. Tell us about yourself," Ron said. I swallowed my tiny bite of pie awkwardly.

"Erm, well, I'm from the Midwest, which you know, Illinois actually-"

"The corn state?" Hugo asked. Hermione rolled her eyes and I grinned.

"Yeah, that's pretty much how the rest of the world sees Illinois, though it's more like corn and Chicago. Anyway, I have one older sister, Amelia, who went to Mahoutokoro through this same program. I like to read and draw and write, and I'm sort of an average student, I don't know. If this is all boring, sorry. I generally tell people I suffer from constant awkwardness when I'm around people. I'm not shy, I'm just awkward. Anyway…" I trailed off, embarrassed. I could see Ron trying to hold back a smile.

"Well, I'm sure we'll get to know you over the year," he reassured me kindly. I smiled and we turned back to our meal.

After dinner, I took a shower to wash the soot off me and calm down, then Rose and I sat and talked for a while.

"Okay, so, I know you're awkward and all, but will you tell me about yourself, please?" she begged. I heard a knock on the door and Hugo pushed his way in, sitting on the bed beside us.

"What are you lot talking about?" he asked.

"We hadn't really started talking yet," Rose said, exchanging a glance with me.

"Well, start talking!" Hugo urged.

"Okay, well, erm. I like to sing and listen to music. What type of music do you guys listen to?" I asked.

"I listen to the Weird Sisters, the Golden Snidgets, the Horned Flobberworms. We listen to a little muggle music, but not a ton. Mostly old stuff like the Beatles, but we also listen to some current. Grandma always makes us listen to Celestina Warbeck," Rose said, shuddering. Hugo looked revolted.

"What type do you listen to?" he asked.

"I'm kind of the opposite of you guys. I tend to listen to more muggle music and less wizard music. I listen to Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel, Imagine Dragons, random radio stuff, etc. My favorite wizard band is definitely the Golden Snidgets," I answered, giggling. We chatted for a while longer, until Hermione poked her head through the door.

"Hey, you should probably go to bed. We need to be up early tomorrow to be at King's Cross station," she said.

"Ok, night Rose," Hugo said, leaving the room.

"Night Mum," Rose smiled at her mum, who left the room, letting us change. I dug through my suitcase, finding my old T-shirt and shorts that I slept in. Rose came back from brushing her teeth and we climbed into bed, me bringing my MP3 player with me. I put on some calming music to help me fall asleep.

As it was, I didn't fall asleep until midnight, still being on U.S. time and of course, my swirling thoughts. Eventually, the last strains of the New World Symphony played, sending me off to sleep.

* * *

I wrenched my eyes open to see Rose shaking me.

"Hey," she said. "Sorry I can't let you sleep longer, but we need to leave in an hour."

I nodded, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and yawning. Rose left and I dragged myself out of bed, digging through my suitcase and pulling out my super-soft Ilvermorny T-shirt. It was definitely my favorite shirt (though my Illinois Ashwinders one was a close second).

Once I was dressed and a little more awake, I went downstairs to see Hermione dashing about the house and telling everyone what to do.

"Rose, have you double checked your trunk? And Hugo, get OFF the couch and do something, you can eat later. RONALD! Are the sandwiches done?" she said this all very fast while I watched on the stair. Hermione turned and caught my eye, smiling. "Oh, hello Eileen. Do you want some breakfast?"

"Oh, of course _she_ gets breakfast," Hugo grumbled. Hermione ignored him, instead choosing to dash about the house after who knew what.

"Mum always makes this more of a big deal than it actually is," a voice came from next to me and I jumped out of my skin.

"Hugo! Jeez, you scared me. How did you get up here so fast?" I said, taking the opportunity to skip my breakfast.

"Are you packed?" he asked, ignoring my question.

"Mostly. I just have to get someone to sit on my suitcase so I can close it."

"Why would you need someone to sit on your suitcase?" Hugo asked.

"'Cause it's really full." I replied, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"I'll help," he offered.

"Thanks," I said, turning to go back up the stairs, Hugo following me.

After many failed attempts trying to get my suitcase closed, a couple awkward moments, finally getting my suitcase closed, Hugo and I cracking up when Hermione started blowing up at Ron until she turned on us, and an incredibly large number of sandwiches dumped in our bags we were finally sitting in the car to King's Cross Station (in London! My inner tourist wormed its way out at that), me squished in the backseat between Rose and Hugo with Misty held tight in my arms.

I closed my eyes and imagined for a moment what Amelia and I'd be doing if she were here now. Probably speaking in bad British accents and giggling about it with Mom and Dad. Jeez, I missed her.

When we finally piled out of the car at the station, it was 10:45.

"Hurry, hurry!" Hermione said. We rushed about, grabbing our trunks or in my case, my suitcase. When we got inside the station, I was in for a surprise.

"Just run at that wall, you won't get smooshed," Ron promised, laughing slightly. "Not like me and Harry in second year, Merlin."

"Here, go on," Hermione pushed us forward. Ron and Hugo dashed at the wall, disappearing before they hit it. What? No way am I running at a wall like some lunatic. Before I could protest, Rose had grabbed my arm, dragging me towards the wall. I skidded toward it, trying to stop. Three inches away, I knew I wouldn't be able to stop and braced myself for a collision that (surprise surprise!) never came.

I opened my eyes to see a crowded and smoky platform. Rose was grinning next to me. Hermione appeared behind us.

"Go, go!" she urged. We went, loading our trunks and suitcases onto the train, me juggling Misty as I gazed around. This train was different from any other train I'd seen before. It had a hall along one side and little private compartments. Fancy.

"Come on," Rose said, glancing into compartments as we walked down the corridor. "Aha!"

She slid a door open. I caught sight of the people inside. There were two boys and a girl. The girl had blue eyes and silver-blonde hair. She was incredibly beautiful and looked to be almost part Veela, from what I knew of them. One of the boys had striking emerald eyes and inky black hair and the other was the complete opposite with white-blond hair, a pointed chin, and soft grey eyes. He seemed to be teasing the one with green eyes who looked annoyed while the girl laughed at him. They all glanced up at the sound of the door sliding open.

"Rose! Save me from your best friend!" green eyes said. Rose laughed.

"I don't think so Al, it's too much fun to watch Scorp and Dom laugh at you. Besides, he was your best friend first."

"You don't love meee!" green eyes (I guess his name is Al) grumbled dramatically. I crinkled my brow in confusion. Rose smacked him upside the head.

"Of course I love you, prat."

"I'm guessing this is Eileen?" Veela girl asked, indicating me. Rose turned to me.

"Oh, sorry. Yeah, this is Eileen."

"Hi" I said, waving slightly. I could feel myself start to sweat and blush and held Misty a little closer. Veela girl came to my rescue (sort of) in the form of pulling me down into a seat.

"Soooo, tell me about yourself."

"Oh, ermmm." I really should rethink being grateful for her.

"Okay Dom, that's enough," Rose said, saving me for real this time. "Why don't you lot introduce yourselves."

"My name's Scorpius Malfoy. I'm Rose's best friend," pale guy said. I couldn't help but notice a strange look in Rose's eye at that.

"I'm Albus Potter, Rose's cousin and other best friend," Al said.

"And I'm Dominique Weasley, another of Rose's many cousins," Veela girl informed me. I nodded awkwardly.

"Wellll, I'm Eileen Holcombe and I'm from Americaaa…yeah that's pretty obvious." I trailed off.

"Nice to meet you, I hope you like Hogwarts and England" Scorpius said, smiling slightly. I sat back and Scorpius, Albus, and Rose started a lively conversation about the Quidditch scores for their teams. Dominique stood up.

"I'll see you lot later," she said, slipping out the door.

"Bye, Dom," everyone chorused.

I finally set Misty down on the seat and pulled out my MP3 player, shoving the buds in my ears and turning on some music to drown out my hunger. _Dammit_ , I should have eaten this morning. Oh well, I'll stay calm at lunch and eat. Song after song played, and I found my eyes drooping.

I wrenched my eyes open after who knew how long to see Scorpius sitting across from me eating a sandwich.

"Where is everyone else?" I asked. Scorpius glanced up.

"Oh, you're awake. They're all changing into their robes," he said. I took in the new outfit he was wearing. It was a long black robe with a Slytherin badge over a pair of black pants and a white shirt and grey sweater vest.

"Awful fancy, isn't it?" I asked.

"I dunno," Scorpius shrugged. "it's our uniform. We wear it all the time except on weekends, holidays, or after class you can change. What is the Ilvermorny uniform like?"

"We don't have a uniform. We just wear our robes over our normal clothes."

"That's nice."

"Yeah." I stood up and pulled my suitcase down, unzipping it and rifling through it. I pulled out my robes, wand and wallet. From the wallet I withdrew a small shiny card not unlike a credit card.

"What's that?" Scorpius asked.

"This? It's my wand permit."

"Your what?"

"My wand permit. Magic usage in the US is monitored heavily. If you carry a wand you have to carry a wand permit and you aren't allowed to have your wand out when you're not in school if you're underage," I told him. Scorpius whistled.

"Wow, that's strict."

"Considering that fact that America played host to the infamous Salem witch trials, I think not," I retorted.

"True," Scorpius shrugged. "You still don't have to carry that permit here."

"Eh, it's habit but maybe I won't," I stuffed it back in my wallet and zipped my suitcase up, shoving it up in the luggage rack and donning my blue and cranberry robes.

We sat in silence until Albus and Rose returned, now wearing their uniforms.

"Don't you need to change?" Albus asked.

"This is my uniform," I said.

"You might have to get a new uniform if McGonagall says so," Rose informed me, taking a seat across from Scorpius.

I watched the three interact for the rest of the train ride. They all laughed and talked, but Rose and Scorpius seemed a little different. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Hmm, I'll have to observe this year and figure out what's going on.

"We're going to be stopping soon. I think you're going with the first years Eileen, but you'll have to check with Hagrid," Rose said. As if on cue, the train started slowing down.

I picked up Misty and put her in my backpack, zipping it up partway. She stuck her head out like a dog and Albus laughed.

"Is that how you usually carry her?" he asked.

"I just got her this year, so no," I answered, smiling back.

"Ah, she's such a cutie," Rose cooed, rubbing Misty's head.

"We've got to go," Scorpius said, sliding the compartment door open as the train screeched to a halt.

We maneuvered our way out into the crowded corridor, jostling through the students until we reached the door. I jumped down, Albus, Rose, and Scorpius joining me as I gazed around, breathing in the air. An enormous man in a long coat was shouting across the noise in a booming voice.

"Firs' years, this way. Firs' years!" Rose marched up to him, tapping on his arm. He glanced down, his beetle black eyes crinkling beneath a bushy brown beard that was streaked with gray. "Wha's up, Rose?" he asked.

"Hi Hagrid, Eileen's here," she said. The man- Hagrid, looked at her in confusion for a moment.

"Eh? OH! Th' exchange studen' from 'Merica?"

"Yeah. Should she go with the first years or with us?"

"Oh, Professor McGonagall said for her to go with th' firs' years," Hagrid said, waving the first years in question over.

"Hi," I called to him.

"So yer th' exchange studen'?" he said kindly, his eyes crinkling with a smile.

"Yup!" Something about Hagrid made me feel calm and at ease. He just seemed down to earth and kind.

"Nice ter meet yer. Follow me." I obeyed, waving at my compartment-mates. They waved back and started walking in the opposite direction.

I joined the throng of eleven-year-olds who were chattering excitedly. One shy looking mousy haired boy dropped his bag and leant forward to pick it up. Two haughty looking girls (how does an eleven-year-old look haughty?) laughed at him cruelly.

"Need a hand?" I asked, smiling at him. He glanced up at me.

"Thanks."

"What's your name?"

"Colin. What's yours?" he mirrored my question.

"I'm Eileen."

"Aren't you kind of old?" Colin wondered, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"I'm an exchange student from America. I'm fourteen and I'm really confused as to what I'm supposed to be doing," I told Colin.

"You'll be fine. My dad told me that we'll take boats across the lake then get sorted in front of the whole school. According to him, he fell in the lake when he was a first year," Colin said eagerly. I laughed.

"Well, I'm glad I found a friend." We grinned at each other as Hagrid started speaking again.

"We'll be takin' th' boats across th' black lake. It's four to a boa', four to a boa'," he said, directing us to take seats in the small wooden rowboats.

Colin and I took seats in one of them, and we were joined by the two mean girls from before (yay… not) who were absorbed in a conversation. One of them glanced up and scowled, nudging her friend.

"Look, the freaks!"

Colin cringed and I raised my eyebrow skeptically.

"Who actually says freak anymore?" I retorted. The girls glanced at each other.

"Who are you?" the blonde one asked.

"My name is Eileen. I'm an exchange student from America. I'm guessing your name is Sharpay, right?" I said.

"What?" blonde girl asked.

"Is that some sort of Muggle reference?" blonde girl's friend, brunette sniffed.

"Actually, it is, but I don't expect you would understand it, seeing as you're prejudiced," I replied. "And I'm not going to pick a fight with an eleven-year-old." The girls glared at me and turned back to their conversation.

"That was hilarious," Colin laughed. Brunette's hand shot out and smacked him. He lost his balance and toppled over the edge of the boat, which rocked dangerously. The girls shrieked.

"What was that for!" Blonde screeched.

"Well he deserved it!" Brunette said. The two girls started arguing and Colin scrabbled at the side of the boat, trying to get back in.

"Lucky you're skinny," I said, taking his hand and pulling him up into the boat. He shivered. "Here, take my cloak." I dug through my backpack, pulling out my cloak much to the chagrin of Misty, who meowed at Colin's wetness. Colin gratefully took the warm fabric and draped it about his shoulders as Hagrid began to speak again.

"You'll be gettin' yer firs' look at Hogwarts when yer turn the' corner," he said with the practiced tone of someone who'd given the same spiel for a long time but never got tired of it.

True to Hagrid's word, we caught our first sight of Hogwarts, a towering castle with hundreds of turrets and towers. There was beautiful, golden light shining out of the many windows creating a homey glow. We stared at it until the bottom of the boat bumped against the rocky shore.

Wordless, we climbed out of the boats and started up the path to the great front doors of Hogwarts.

* * *

A/N: Sooo, I changed the name of the Illinois Quidditch team. Other than that, same chapter! Enjoy and review!

W-W-A-J-A-L


	3. Chapter 3

I'm not JKR and therefore do not own anything of hers (do I really look that old to you?)

* * *

We entered the hall. I was standing inside Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where I'd be living for the next year.

There was a tiny man who was about the height of my waist with goblin- like features. He was dressed in deep blue wizard's robes and was standing in the cavernous entrance.

"Hello," he squeaked. "I'm Professor Flitwick. Please leave any pets over there." He gestured to a wall lined with cat carriers and owl cages, "and then follow me." Most of the first years drifted over to the wall. I set down my backpack, zipping it nearly all the way. Misty was sleeping inside.

"The sorting will begin shortly." Flitwick turned and we followed him into a small room off to the side. There were portraits hanging on the walls and the occupants were chatting and moving from picture to picture.

"Is there an Eileen Holcombe here?" Flitwick asked. I raised my hand awkwardly. "Oh yes, welcome Eileen. You will be sorted along with the first years. Now, I'll be back in a moment." He left the room.

The first years began to mutter quietly amongst themselves. I stared around at the students and portraits. I felt weird just standing there, but I was saved by Colin.

"Are you nervous?" he asked.

"About being sorted?"

"Well, yeah, but also about living in another country for a year," he said, fiddling with his fingers. I sighed.

"Yeah, but I'm excited, too." We never did finish our conversation because at that moment, Flitwick came back into the room and picked up a stool I hadn't noticed before. On the stool sat a battered old hat, frayed and patched. It looked like a breeding ground for lice.

"Follow me, please!" Flitwick said, hurrying to a door that opened of its own accord. We followed, walking single file.

I stared around as we walked into the Great Hall. There were four long (like, _really_ long) tables and another, shorter one perpendicular to them. Judging by the adults sitting around it, it was the teachers' table. The whole place glowed with warmth and laughter. I glanced up. Above each table were banners for their houses, and candles floating in midair. But more surprisingly, the ceiling looked exactly as the sky outside did- dark and full of stars.

It reminded me a lot of Ilvermorny, except the dining hall at Ilvermorny seemed to be safer (see: lack of suspended candles, people). I glanced back down and looked at the students seated at the tables. I caught Dominique's eye and she waved at me. I smiled nervously.

Finally, we halted at the end of the hall and Professor Flitwick set down the stool, producing a long, parchment scroll. I waited for him to read the names, but instead a rip on the hat opened and the hat began to sing. I listened in astonishment.

" _Let me tell you a tale,_

 _Of Godric Gryffindor, who welcomed the brave and strong,_

 _True Helga Hufflepuff, oh she was just and loyal,_

 _Those who stayed with her, were unafraid of moil,_

 _Dear Rowena Ravenclaw, yes, she was smart and witty,_

 _And she drew up plans,_

 _With Salazar Slytherin,_

 _The cunning man made all the plans to build stone walls,_

 _The ones that now surround us,_

 _These four built Hogwarts,_

 _From magic, stone and theory,_

 _Learning, light and lore,_

 _Philosophy, power and dust,_

 _And when it was finished,_

 _The castle on the hill,_

 _Welcomed all to dwell therein,_

 _And gain that knowledge that they so desire,_

 _So, stay with your kin,_

 _we will all win,_

 _No need to be in a bin!"_

I raised an eyebrow and snuck a glance around at all the applauding kids. If this was the Sorting Hat, I wasn't sure if I could trust it all that much, but hey, YOLO, right?

Professor Flitwick stepped up and started calling names out in his squeaky little voice. When Colin was called I wished him luck. He smiled at me, his face a little green, and hurried up to the hat, jamming it on his head.

After a minute or so, the hat yelled, "Hufflepuff!" to which Colin grinned and went to sit with his new housemates.

As the names neared mine, I started to lose my confidence. My neck prickled and I started thinking about anything and everything embarrassing that could happen. Eventually, Flitwick called my name.

"Eileen Holcombe!" I walked nervously up to the stool and sat down, allowing the hat to be set on my head. The last thing I saw before the brim flopped over my eyes was four hourglasses at the back of the hall, filled with different gems. I wondered what they were.

" _Well, well, well, what have we here?"_ the hat asked. I started a little. " _Oh, you weren't expecting me to talk, were you?"_

"Um, hi," I thought.

" _Well, hello to you, too. You know, no one says hi anymore, it's really quite irritating. Anyway, you. You are older than most, older than most. Fourteen, eh? From America, too. A Horned Serpent, which is rather like Ravenclaw, here. Yes, you do have a ready mind, but you are also very brave. You deal with many inner conflicts, you face them every day. It takes a great deal of courage."_

"I'm not all that brave," I protested in thought.

" _Yes, you are, very."_

"Nope, that I'm certain of."

" _If you're so certain, why did you come here, travel to another country despite your severe anxiety because you didn't know how to tell your parents that you didn't want to travel so you followed in your sister's footsteps? Yes, not brave at all,"_ Hat said sarcastically. Wonderful, burned by a hat.

"Hey! How did you know that?" I thought.

" _I look into your brain, foolish one."_

"Pfft, call me foolish, I don't care."

" _Fine, I give up, you're irritating me. I'm putting you in RAVENCLAW!"_ Hat shouted the last part. As I took off Hat, I swear I could hear it mutter " _Whether you like it or not."_

I hurried down to the table and saw Dominique waving me over.

"So, you're in Ravenclaw!" she grinned. I gave her a high five and turned back to watch the sorting.

When it was finished, a woman with grey hair streaked with black stepped up to the podium. She was wearing emerald robes and a tall pointed witches hat.

"That's Professor McGonagall. She's the Headmistress," Dominique whispered.

"Welcome, all!" Professor McGonagall greeted. "A quick reminder of the rules: No going into the Forbidden Forest and first years are not allowed to have brooms. Also, this year we will be having an exchange student from America. This is a program that has been going on at many wizarding schools around the world, and Hogwarts has decided to participate from this year forth. This year, we have one student from the American school of witchcraft- Ilvermorny. I want you all to be welcoming and helpful to our new student, so now please welcome Eileen Holcombe!"

Everyone clapped, some enthusiastically, some halfheartedly. Dominique was smiling widely and I could see Rose, Hugo, Scorpius, and Albus clapping hard. I tried to sink down in my seat- I'm the queen of awkward after all, but Dominique hauled me up and waved my arm around.

"Stop it!" I hissed, embarrassed. She merely grinned.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. "Let the feast begin!" She clapped her hands and piles of potatoes and vats of gravy and chicken and meat pies and vegetables appeared on the table. Pitchers of water and pumpkin juice appeared alongside it all. It nearly rivaled the Ilvermorny Thanksgiving feast.

The whole scene and the smells made me nauseous.

Okay, that was my anxiety speaking. Everything smelled amazing and I was starving, but as I slowly poured a glass water, everything seemed to fade out and I was left in my head, trying to calm myself. _I'm NOT going to be sick. The food is fine, I mean, an entire school eats this stuff every day and they are fine!_ Yes, but they're used to it. _That doesn't matter! Just pretend this is Ilvermorny._ My breathing slowly calmed and I tried to stay in my imaginary bubble as I reached forward and took a small piece of chicken. Just as I was about to take a small bite, the bubble was burst by none other than Dominique.

"Here," she said, enthusiastically plopping a spoonful of mashed potatoes on my plate. "These are the best potatoes ever made- except Grandma Weasley's of course." I picked up my fork and took a tiny bite of the amazing smelling potatoes. When I swallowed them, my body begged me for more. " _Food!"_ It cried. I slowly took another bite.

And just like that. I couldn't stop eating. My body went on autopilot after not eating for a day. I ate potatoes and chicken and peas. The small bit of my mind still freaked out whispered in my mind " _they're the safest,"_ but I shoved that thought to the back of my mind.

After I finished my plate, I sat back, slouching. Of course, my dumb mind started talking again. _Wait, was that little feeling in my abdomen a sign that I might throw up? Now my stomach hurts! Shit, I'm gonna be sick, oh wait no, that's gone now._

When the desserts appeared (which were even more impressive than the food I might say- ice cream and pie and a brown thing that Dominque told me was treacle tart), I continued to sip my water. I couldn't wait to get to my room so that I could let my guard down and not have to mask anything.

"Hey, are you okay?" Dominque asked from next to me. I glanced up sharply.

"What? Why?" I said.

"You've seemed distant this whole meal and you didn't eat that much. Did you like the food?" she worried.

"Oh yeah, it was great!" I said weakly. "I just kinda miss home. And I've got jet-lag, you know." The blonde girl nodded.

"Well, we'll be going back to the dormitory soon." And she turned back to her dessert.

When the meal was finished and everyone was sleepy and full, Professor McGonagall stood up to speak again.

"Now that we are all fed and full, we will sing our school song. Pick a tune and sing the words to it. I will write the lyrics in the air for those who don't know them." She waved her wand and golden letters looped through the air, forming the song.

I grinned. I loved singing and It would be cool to hear another school's song. We opened our mouths and started to sing.

" _Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald,  
Or young with scabby knees,  
Our heads could do with filling,  
With some interesting stuff,  
For now they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
And learn until our brains all rot."_

I chose the tune of 'Ode To Joy'. I don't know why, but it just popped into my head. I could hear some people singing it to a chanting tune, one person was rapping it. Dominique was singing to a very soulful sounding ballad. From the other side of the hall, I could see Albus and Scorpius singing the song to 'Save Me' and dramatically acting out the tune. I couldn't help but giggle. So far, the sorting and the school song had been _very_ different from Ilvermorny's.

When we were finished, we all filed out of the benches. I heard some older students calling, "First years, this way!"

"Who are they?" I whispered to Dominique. I'd basically decided that I was going to stick with her for a while after I got sorted into Ravenclaw.

"Prefects. They pretty much just patrol the corridors after curfew. Sometimes they tutor younger students."

"Oh."

"Don't you have prefects at Ilvermorny?" Dominique asked in surprise.

"No, we have house presidents who are in charge of showing first years around. There are also vice presidents. They help the president," I replied.

"Sounds very democratic."

"I suppose it is."

"Sooo, how do you like Hogwarts so far?" Dominique asked.

"I like what I've seen so far. The song was, sorry, hilarious," I answered, smiling.

"Yeah, no one loves it but we sing it and laugh about it. Do you have a school song?"

"Mmhmm. I'll sing it for you sometime."

"Yay!" Dominique cheered.

"So, where are the Ravenclaw dorms?" I wondered.

"They're in the west tower. It's called Ravenclaw tower." I nodded and we walked in silence until we reached the Ravenclaw entrance.

"How do we get in?" I asked, inspecting the door. Dominique stepped up and knocked twice with a bronze knocker. A woman's voice spoke softly.

" _What always comes but never arrives?"_ the voice inquired.

"You have to answer the riddle," Dominique informed me.

"That sounds tiresome."

"Eh, after a while the older students just tell the knocker to bugger off if they're tired. If you get the riddle wrong, though, you have to wait till someone who knows comes along."

"Okay, now I'm kind of scared of this place," I said. Dom laughed.

"You'll get used to it." I thought that might be only partially true, but oh well.

"Tomorrow?" I guessed.

"That is correct," the voice said. The door swung open and we stepped through.

* * *

A/N: Very long wait, sorry. I have two more chapters written, though. And I'm working on the sixth one so you'll have lotS of reading material this week. I have done the math and I have to write 6,000 more words by the end of the month to finish my modified NaNoWriMo. Eek! it's exciting. Anywayyyyy, if you're reading this, hopefully you've noticed the zero reviews and wilL help me continue writing by adding one. *hint hint* Enjoy!

W-W-A-J-A-L


	4. Chapter 4

I'm not JKR

* * *

I stepped into the Ravenclaw common room. In front of a crackling fireplace sat dark blue couches and armchairs. Cushioned wood chairs sat around polished mahogany tables. The carpet was cobalt and bronze, the house colors, and nearly the entire wall was covered in bookshelves filled with books. I say wall because there was only one- the room was circular. The ceiling was painted with stars and there was a marble statue of a woman wearing a tiara set between two staircases. Everywhere kids were laughing and talking, draped over chairs or finding their friends.

"Welcome to the Ravenclaw common room," a voice said. I glanced down from the ceiling and saw a friendly looking guy a few years older than me. He was wearing a prefect badge.

"My name's Sherman Edgecombe. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand and I shook it.

"Nice to meet you, too. This is amazing- all the books. Do you guys have fiction, too?" I asked.

"Yeah. Come on, I'll show you around. Hi Dominique," Sherman greeted Dom.

"Good to see you, Sherm. Congratulations on getting Prefect." She high-fived him and walked away, stopping to chat with some students and to squeal with others.

Sherman led me towards a bookshelf. "This is our fiction section. We have magical and muggle literature-"

"Muggle?" I asked, then remembered and face-palmed. Sherman opened his mouth to explain, though he looked kind of like "who is this person, not knowing what a muggle is".

"Sorry, momentary lapse of memory. In America, we call them No-Majs."

"No- Maj?"

"No Magic."

"I see, you use a slang term."

"Ummm," I said, a little confused.

"Anyway," Sherman turned back to the bookshelves. "Over there is Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Astronomy, Arithmancy…" he continued to list subjects, pointing at each space in turn.

"Do you have art supplies here?" I asked.

"Oh, are you of the artistic persuasion?" Sherman said.

"Well, I like to draw and paint and sing and write fiction, so I guess you could call me that."

"Interesting." Sherman studied me. "You should talk to Jamie Thomas. She's really into art."

"What year is she?" I asked curiously

"Fourth, so you'll be sharing a dormitory."

"Oh, well, I guess I'll meet her tonight," I said. Sherman nodded, then he caught sight of someone over my shoulder and his eyes lit up.

"Uh, do you mind?" he asked, indicating the boy. I shook my head.

"Go on, I'm going to go find my dorm," I said. Sherman looked at me in relief before hurrying off.

I wandered over to the stairs, climbing up the one on the left of the tall statue of Rowena Ravenclaw that I saw a bunch of girls going up. I passed the first-year dormitory, a seventh-year dormitory, a sixth year one, fifth year, then, aha! The fourth-year dorm. I pushed the door nervously open.

Inside were six four-poster beds. They were covered with poofy cerulean duvets and clean, fluffy, white pillows and sheets. Brown velvet curtains were tied back revealing the beds and a desk and chair sat next to each. Most were cluttered with all sorts of things- posters from quidditch teams, books, art supplies on the one next an empty area. Misty was curled up on the bed, my green backpack sitting next to her. I hurried over and picked her up, cuddling her to my chest.

I sat down, figuring that the bed was mine and stared around. Misty made herself comfortable in my lap. I pulled out my book- The True Meaning Of Smekday, and began to read.

I glanced down at Misty. "You want to go into the out?" I asked, smiling. That was one of my favorite quotes from the book. She meowed. I giggled. "Oooo, Misty!" I cooed. "You want to go into the out?" I scratched her back and went back to my book.

The door opened and Dominique and two other girls came in, laughing. One of them wore a bright scarf tied around her dark afro and a paint- splattered pair of jeans under her robes. The other girl had honey colored hair and honey eyes. She really had the honey aesthetic going there.

Dom caught sight of me. "Hey Eileen!" she chirped. I waved.

"Hey."

Dominique squealed and leapt onto my bed. "Sooo, what do you think of Hogwarts so far?" she asked.

"It's cool! The great hall is amazing," I said.

"I know!" Dominique nodded vigorously. "When I first saw it, I thought that there really was no ceiling. So, did Jamie."

The dark-skinned girl waved at me. "Hi," she said, walking over and leaning on the bedpost. "Welcome to Hogwarts. I hope you have fun here!"

"Thanks," I replied.

"Are you okay?" Dom asked. "Like, do you need anything?"

I shrugged. "I don't think so."

"Okay, well, if you have questions, ask! Also, I'm here to talk! We girls are probably going to be playing our annual game of never have I ever or something, so you can join!" she offered.

"Sure," I said. Dominique bounced off the bed and into the bathroom. I set my book down and the third girl walked over from her trunk.

"Hi," she sat down and shook my hand. "I'm Ellie Cattermole."

"I'm Eileen Holcombe."

"Nice to meet you. Shayla and Caitlyn our other roommates should be getting here soon so we can play Never Have I Ever. I hope you join, it's always tons of fun," Ellie said, rubbing her nose. I nodded.

"I was planning on it."

"Nice! I'm going to go use the loo now, byeee!" she stood up and swept off. I crawled to the end of my bed and pulled my suitcase up, unzipping it. As I dug through the layers of clothes, two more girls came through the doors. I pulled out my toothbrush and PJ's and stood up.

"Hi," I said.

"Hello, are you Eileen?" the shorter one with reddish blonde hair asked.

"Yeah."

"I'm Shayla Runcorn and this is Caitlyn Peakes." She indicated the girl next to her with dirty blonde hair and freckles.

"Hello," Caitlyn said. She looked tough and her tone was guarded. I gave her my friendliest smile and held up my pajamas.

"I'm just going to go put my PJ's on," I said. Shayla pursed her lips and nodded. I scurried off to the bathroom.

Inside, Dominique was washing her face and she, Ellie and Jamie were talking and giggling.

"We'll be out soon," Dominique tossed over her shoulder to me. I nodded, sitting on the toilet to wait.

"Blake Robertson's looking fiiiine this year," Jamie said, giggling.

Dominique grinned mischievously. "I think that that Slytherin, Kendal, has a crush on him."

"Oooh, I ship it," Ellie said. I shot up faster than you can say "fangirl". The girls stared at me with confused smiles on their faces.

"Are you a fangirl tooooo!?" I asked. Dom put her hands up.

"Don't hurt me!" she said dramatically. But Ellie stood up.

"What's your fandom?" she asked, excitedly.

"All of Rick Riordan's books!" I squealed, bouncing on my feet.

Ellie grinned wider. "Me tooo! And Lord of The Rings, have you read those?"

"No but I need to." We high-fived.

"FANGIRLS UNITE!" we said at the same time. Dominique looked between us.

"I think I'm just gonna go. I feel like I'm interrupting something." She scurried out of the room, sniggering.

Ellie and I glanced at Jamie who was watching with an amused smile. "Oops," I said.

"No worries, Ellie always fangirls."

"Yeah, same." We grinned at each other for a little while, then Jamie shook herself.

"I'll let you put on your pajamas now." She left and I stuck my toothbrush in my mouth. Ellie raised her eyebrow playfully at me and swung out of the bathroom.

When I came out of the bathroom a couple minutes later, everyone was sitting in a circle, a sheet of paper in the middle.

"Come on over and play never have I ever," Ellie gestured to me to sit next to her.

"So, rules," Shayla said. "We usually have fifty questions, but this round we're going to have forty-eight questions and each person is asking eight. I trust everyone knows how to play this game?" We all nodded. "Okay, I'll make the score sheet." She grabbed a quill (what was the deal with those things? Why not just use a ball point pen or something?) and bent over the parchment (also, what was the deal with that stuff?).

Caitlyn raised her hand. "I'll go first," she volunteered.

"Sounds good," Shayla said. "Then Dom can go, then Ellie, Jamie, Eileen, and me." She scribbled the rules out on her parchment and looked up expectantly.

Caitlyn took a breath. "Hmm, never have I ever been thrown up on." My eyes widened a little as I felt the familiar surge of adrenaline. _No, no, no, calm, calm, calm,_ I chanted over and over in my head. I closed my eyes for a moment and my reflex calmed slightly. Shayla marked a tally for Caitlyn and glanced around the circle. Dom and Jamie were laughing and shoulder bumping.

"Uh, yeah. When you have a family as big as mine, you're gonna get puked on," Dominique said carelessly. I didn't understand how she could be so calm about the whole thing. My heartbeat was speeding up. I let out a relieved breath when the others raised their hands.

Dominique thought for a moment before opening her mouth. "Never have I ever laughed so hard I peed my pants."

"Uh, duh. Who hasn't?" Ellie asked.

"Agreed," I said. Of course, everyone raised their hand.

"Never have I ever attempted martial arts moves while by myself," she said. "No one?"

"Demo?" Caitlyn asked. Ellie stood up and did a series of very bad kicks and punches.

"For you, my loves. Terrible Muggle fighting." She took a bow and sat down.

Jamie thought for a moment before speaking. "Never have I ever licked/eaten something thinking it was chocolate, but it wasn't."

Shayla and I raised our hands. "What was it?" Caitlyn asked.

"Brown paint," I said.

"Mud," Shayla volunteered. The girls looked at Shayla.

"How did you not tell that that was not chocolate," Ellie said.

"Hey," Shayla put her hands up defensively. "Moving on, Eileen," she said.

I thought for a moment. I was always bad at coming up with questions. "Never have I ever been dumpster diving."

Caitlyn and Ellie raised their hands.

"I've never been dumpster diving, but we go to rummage sales with Grandma," Dom said.

I nodded. "Yeah, my grandma and great grandma used to go junking."

"I'm guessing that means going to rummage sales?" Shayla confirmed.

"Mmhmm, but they also used to buy things and mark up the prices and sell the stuff," I said.

"Isn't that illegal?" she asked.

"Would that stop you?"

"No," Shayla said after thinking for a moment. "Never have I ever shot a gun."

I raised my hand. Dom recoiled a look of surprise on her face. "You guys have shot guns?"

"Yeah, I have, once," Shayla said.

"Of course. My dad went out hunting with a friend one time and he let me try," I said.

"You went hunting?" Ellie asked.

"Well, I didn't want to shoot anything, but my dad thought it could be a cool experience. Plus, with all the issues surrounding the second amendment and all, he thought it could be a way to just KNOW what our forefathers had to…." I trailed off. Everyone was staring at me in confusion. I felt my cheeks heat up. "Err, sorry." I muttered. The girls shook it off and we continued to play.

We had some pretty crazy never have I ever's as well as some not crazy ones. For example, never have I ever stayed up for more than 24 hours, never have I ever been to a music festival, never have I ever used a fake I.D., never have I ever smuggled food or candy into a movie theater (honestly, everyone's done that), never have I ever gotten into a fist fight, and never have I ever gone commando.

Around eleven when we were all tired (and I was super tired what with jet lag and time weirdness and all) we went to bed.

Right before I climbed into the covers though, Shayla came over to me and said, "Listen, be careful around Caitlyn, she's kind of sensitive." I thought back to the hardened features of Caitlyn. She did seem to have a mask that hadn't cracked once, but I decided to just observe. It was only my first day, after all.

"Okay, I'll be careful," I said, nodding. Shayla cracked a smile and held out her hand. I took it and we shook.

"I think you'll have fun this year Eileen Holcombe. I'm hoping we can all become…" she paused in her formal speech, then thrust her hips out and put her arms in the air. "BFF'S!"

Then she went to bed.

* * *

A/N: This chapter marks the end of the journey to Hogwarts. I'm hoping the mini panic attacks are written okay. If you think they're good or you have any other comments, review!

W-W-A-J-A-L


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own Harry Potter

* * *

"I'm going to call a pair of you up so you can duel. The loser leaves and a new person comes up to try and beat the winner," Professor Jaylin Snyder said. She was a tough young woman with long brown hair in a braid and a determined expression. And she just so happened to be our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

It was the morning after I arrived at Hogwarts and I'd already been to one class, History of Magic, which had been taught by the most boring ghost in existence. Dominique had sat next to me and explained how the classes work. Each year was taught with the same year from another house. For example, I was currently in Defense Against the Dark Arts with the fourth year Gryffindors. Apparently, they only had two sessions per year per subject. They clearly didn't have issues with too many students like Ilvermorny did.

I explained this to Dominique and she listened interestedly as I told her about random students being put in large classes based on what level they were. It made more sense to me to do it that way, but I guess Hogwarts didn't have enough students to worry about over filled classes.

Professor Flitwick had come around giving us our schedules at breakfast. He explained to me that I would be taking the seven core classes and that I could choose a couple extras right then. I had asked him what the limit was and he'd been like, "There is no limit" so I asked Dominique what she was taking. I ended up signing up for Muggle Studies, which she didn't take, and Care of Magical Creatures, which I'm also learning at home.

We were in Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA) where we were going to be dueling with spells we learned last year. Professor Snyder had chosen Rose and a boy named Finlay O'Brien from Ravenclaw to start.

I watched as they dueled. They were both really good, but they were saying the spells. Rose was better though, quicker. She finally managed to hit Finlay with a tickling curse so good that he had to nearly be dragged away he was laughing so hard.

Shayla went up, as did a boy from Gryffindor. I noticed that they all said their spells. _Was that what they did in England?_ I wondered.

"Eileen Holcombe!" Snyder called. I grabbed my wand and nervously went up to the front of the classroom. Rose smiled at me.

"Hey Eileen, what's up?"

"Nothin' much. I'm just hopin' dat I can beatcha in dis duel," I said, purposely saying it with a very Chicagoese accent. Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Go." I fired.

I had a lot of practice. I was part of the weekly dueling club at Ilvermorny and I was the fourth best dueler in it, but Rose was good. Like, REALLY good.

She shouted a bat bogey hex at me and I blocked it nonverbally. I sent a silent stunner toward her and she had just enough time to block it. We dodged and sent hexes at each other. Rose was about to win when I whistled. The split-second distraction allowed me to jelly-legs jinx her.

She grinned at me and wobbled over. "Good job," she said. "I had no idea you could do nonverbal spells."

I looked at her in confusion. "What?" Rose stumbled.

"I'll explain later," she said, and walked off.

Professor Snyder called the next person up, who was Ellie. She smirked at me and I smiled back confidently. At the shout of "go", we started.

I ended up winning against Ellie and a Gryffindor boy named Edward Bailey (I love nonverbal spells). Against Caitlyn, though, I failed. She was, put simply, amazing. She was better than Rose, even. She hit me with a good hair growing hex.

I walked back to Jamie. "You're good," she said. "Do you want me to take off the hex?" she asked, indicating my hair, which had grown nearly to the floor.

"Actually," I said. "I think I'll keep it. I've always wanted Rapunzel hair." Jamie laughed.

"I know a spell to stop it once it gets to the length you want," she volunteered.

"Nice."

"Okay, so what's the deal with the nonverbal spells?" she asked. I looked at her in surprise.

"Don't you guys do them?" I asked.

Jamie shook her head. "We don't learn them until sixth year." I recoiled.

"What?"

"Why do you guys learn them so early?"

"Um, well, magic and America have a _slightly_ violent history," I said. "We are very strict about magic usage and in the beginning of the country, wizards would use non-verbal spells so that the No-Majs wouldn't find out and kill them. Most of our spells are nonverbal."

"Couldn't you just use obliviate?" Jamie asked. I gave her a stare.

"Trust me, it's more complicated than that."

She put her hands up. "Sorry, we just use magic and if a Muggle sees, whelp, he better run if he don't wanna be obliviated."

I shrugged and turned back to watch the duel.

After DADA (and Jamie fixing my hair so it was to my hips), we walked to lunch where I forced myself to eat a little despite my anxiety. I really did not want a repeat of the previous day.

I was just finishing when Rose and Scorpius sat down next to me.

"Hi," they greeted.

"S'up, dudes?" I asked. Scorpius laughed.

"Not much," he said. "We came over to say hi and ask how your first day is going- or at least, I did." He tossed a sideways glance at Rose. She grinned at me.

"That was some great dueling today," she complimented. "Okay, off topic, but do you want to hang out sometime?"

"Sure," I said.

"Okay! Do you want to meet up in here tomorrow afternoon? I've got a bunch of essays to start." Rose rolled her eyes.

"Sounds good," I agreed. Rose grabbed a French fry and swung her legs over the bench.

"I gotta run. Herbology is in ten minutes. See you, Scorp, Eileen." She hurried out of the hall, red hair bouncing. I noticed Scorpius staring after her a bit longer than normal.

"You like her, don't you?" I guessed. Scorpius started out of his reverie.

"Yeah," he said, staring at the table.

I thought for a moment. "I think I shall do some research."

"On what?" Scorpius asked.

"Oh… nothing. Anyway, I gotta go to Muggle Studies."

Scorpius's face lit up. "Oh, I've got that now, too!"

"Nice," I said. "Now I won't have to get lost looking for the classroom."

"You'd be fine."

I snorted. "Unlikely." We stood up and started walking out of the hall when I bumped into Colin.

"Colin! How are you?" I asked warmly. The boy in question grinned up at me.

"Great! How 'bout you?"

"Good."

Colin looked over my shoulder and waved at someone. "Oh, gotta go, nice talking to you, byeee!" he hurried past me. I grinned. He was so cute.

"Who was that?" Scorpius asked.

"Colin Creevey," I said. "We sat in the same boat coming across the lake."

"Ah." Scorpius nodded. "Shall we walk?"

"After you." I gestured dramatically.

We chatted all the way to Muggle Studies, in which I learned that Scorpius had been best friends with Rose and Albus since he got on the train in his first year, his favorite colors were red and silver, and that he was a die-hard Chudley Cannons fan.

"I'm a fan of the Illinois Ashwinders, which is our state team," I shared. "See, we have a team for every state and each team is based out of the most prominent city in the state, sort of like the NFL."

"NFL?"

"National Football League. So for example, the Ashwinders are based out of Chicago and the Pennsylvania Pukwudgies are based out of Philadelphia. We don't really have any other teams, plus people tend to watch No-Maj sports a lot. And that was sort of a long explanation. Sorry, my family's really into sports, though not as much as some people." I smiled sheepishly.

Scorpius waved me off. "I know people who could talk for literal days about Quidditch, myself included. From what you've said, I gather that American wizard-folk are more integrated into Muggle society?"

"Yeah, we tend to be. Of course, some aren't into the No-Maj life, but most of us pretty much live normally. We use electronics and everything, too. What about you?"

"Um, we tend to live more in towns with a magical community, but we also live in No-Maj towns. I can't speak for myself, though, because I live in basically the middle of nowhere. We don't use electronics at Hogwarts because they tend to go haywire around the magic and so a lot of pureblood and half-blood families just don't use them," Scorpius said, adjusting his bag strap.

"They go crazy around magic?" I asked in surprise. At Ilvermorny, we used phones and laptops and all sorts of things.

"Yeah, the magic is too strong or something, I don't know. Oh, we're here," Scorpius said, slowing by a throng of students waiting outside a door.

We stood around for a couple of minutes. Scorpius was writing in a little book with his quill (?). I still didn't understand what was so great about those things. Since I wasn't distracted, my anxiety began to push itself forward.

 _You look so weird in your bright colored robes and regular clothes, it said._

I don't look weird, I thought firmly.

 _HA! Everyone here is wearing uniforms._

So, what? Individuality is great.

 _Individuality is never good. It's better to blend in. Be another number. Not have to worry about how you look to others._

I don't care what others think, I fought.

 _Of course you do. Fineee, I'll give you a stomachache._

I stood there, doing algebra problems in my head in preparation for Muggle Studies and to distract myself. Stupid anxiety. Eventually, the professor called us in.

It turns out that Muggle Studies at Hogwarts is not the same as No-Maj Studies at Ilvermorny. In fact, they are very different.

At Ilvermorny, No-Maj Studies teach in one class what No-Majs learn in school. We learn algebra and some science and how magic and science work together. American history, world history, and magical history are all taught in a separate class, though, and English is sort of scattered through all the subjects.

At Hogwarts, Muggle Studies are literally _Muggle Studies._ They study all the No-Maj things that are everyday objects in American magical homes, such as TVs, phones, _(POPCORN,_ seriously, why are you so sheltered from No-Majs that you don't know what popcorn is? I mean, you'd think it would be the other way around what with Britain's lax laws about magic and No-Majs), and such.

It was interesting, though to see how wizards in Britain look at No-Majs. They seem to look at them through an objective "microscope".

"What do you think of Muggle Studies so far?" Scorpius asked, leaning forward and poking me. I started, jolting out of my reverie.

"Oh, um, it's interesting. I mean, it's different from No-Maj studies, but it is interesting."

"How is it different?"

"We don't learn about No-Majs in that class, we learn things like math and science, things that No-Majs learn in school," I explained.

"Oh, that's different," Scorpius said, furrowing his brow. He looked a little perplexed before turning back to his notes.

After Muggle Studies was done, I went back to the Great Hall to have a snack. Scorpius went back to his common room, so I was left to figure out how to get back to the hall by myself.

On the way there, I was stopped by a group of people.

"Soo, you're Eileen," one girl asked, giggling a little.

"Ummm, yeah," I said. I was terrible with new people.

"What do you think of Hogwarts so far?" another squealed.

"Uh, jeez, I just realized, I have someone to meet right now," I said, trying to move away from them. The girls grabbed my arm.

"Who is it? Is it someone…. You know… cute?" they burst out giggling.

"Uh, no. It's my host sister, Rose."

"Oh." The girls looked disappointed.

"Eileen!" a shout saved me. I turned around to see a pair of brown eyes under a mop of red hair walking towards me.

"Hugo! What's up?" I asked the younger boy. One of the girls poked me in the back.

"Why are you talking to him? He's, like, half your age," she whispered.

I whirled around, exasperated. "Excuse me!" I stalked off as politely as possible towards Hugo (Actually, it was meant to be that perfect stalk that conveys your anger while still being classy, unfortunately I bumped into like five people, so it failed).

"What was that all about?" he asked.

"Annoying cliques," I muttered.

"Oh yeah, those girls are a year above Rose and they always irritate her so much. Too bad you had to encounter them on your first day," Hugo sympathized.

"Thanks for saving me," I said gratefully.

"No problem. So, how's your first day been?"

"Pretty good! I learned the difference between No-Maj and Muggle Studies and I figured out which clique to avoid. And I befriended Scorpius and learned that British wizards don't use nonverbal spells."

Hugo nodded distractedly. "Wait, why would you use nonverbal spells?" Hugo asked, his head shooting around. I launched into my explanation. When I was finished, Hugo looked like he thought American wizards were crazy and my suspicions that British wizards were crazy was confirmed, especially after I watched a group of cackling sixth years unfold a swamp in the middle of the hall.

Hugo must have seen the look on my face, because he said, "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, my uncle's joke shop and you won't need an explanation once you go there."

I shrugged it off and we finally entered the Great Hall.

"Rose!" Hugo crowed. "You've gotta see this!" He ran forward and pulled something out of his pocket, eagerly showing it to his sister. They laughed and high-fived. Hugo gave his sister's head a hug and ran off towards another girl with a milky- tea colored skin and curls with a red undertone and a boy with black hair who was wearing a Gryffindor sweater.

I went over to the Ravenclaw table where Jamie sat with a freckled girl with brown hair. They were both writing intently. I sat down next to Jamie and grabbed an orange. It seemed like the safest option (after all, it didn't sit out possibly gathering germs that could make me thro- sick). Freckle girl nudged Jamie, who glanced up.

"Oh, hi Eileen," she said, yawning. "What's up?"

"Muggle Studies. You?" I replied.

"Essay for Arithmancy," she motioned at her parchment. I nodded and pulled out my notebook and pencil. Before I could get started on my Care of Magical Creatures diagram, a second year Slytherin came up to me.

"I was told to bring Eileen Holcombe to McGonagall's office," she said. Jamie prodded me in the back.

"Go, we can chat later at dinner," she said.

"Okay, see ya." I stuffed my things in my backpack and stood up. "Lead me to the principal."

"Headmistress, actually," Isla Bailey said.

"Ah yes, my bad," I said.

"You're very nice," Isla informed me.

"What?"

"You're nice. Sometimes, certain people steer clear of us Slytherins."

"Why?" I asked, adjusting my backpack.

"Slytherin house has produced some of the darkest wizards. It was Voldemort's house, after all. You have heard of him, right?"

"Him I've heard of," I said in a joking tone.

Isla smiled. "Yeah, because of that. People are a lot nicer to Slytherins nowadays, but we still have some prejudice. It's really quite irritating." I wondered how people could be prejudiced against an entire house, but who knows.

After walking for a while, we arrived at a pair of carved stone gargoyles. "Chocolate frog," Isla said. A circular staircase opened up before me. "Go on up." Isla gestured for me to go.

"Nice meeting you! See you around," I said, waving and going up the stairs. I stopped in front of a carved wooden door with "Headmistress" written on it.

"Come in," a voice with a Scottish accent said before I could knock. I swung the door open and stepped into a tidy office lined with bookshelves. Professor McGonagall sat in a chair behind the polished desk, wearing her emerald robes.

"Hi," I said.

"Sit down, Miss Holcombe," McGonagall said, motioning to a chair. I sat.

"Now, how has your first day been?" she asked.

"Um…" I said very intelligently. "Good. I liked Defense. I was surprised by No-M… Muggle Studies," I corrected.

"Good. I just wanted to check in and make sure you have your roommates and host siblings looking out for you."

"Oh, yeah. They've been great."

"Well if you need any assistance with anything, ask a student- preferably a prefect, or professor." McGonagall shifted a stack of papers on her desk.

"I will."

"Well, you may go now, Miss Holcombe," McGonagall smiled thinly at me and gestured toward the door. I walked out, but decided to go to the Common Room rather than the Great Hall.

I ended up staying in my dormitory working on homework for the rest of the night. Dominique brought me a slice of treacle tart to try, though I ended up trying only a tiny bite for show and hiding the rest to get rid of later.

The next day after Care of Magical Creatures with the Hufflepuffs (where I had chatted with Alessandra), I walked up to Rose and took a seat on the long benches in the Great Hall.

"How was your class?" I asked.

Rose looked up. "Oh, Herbology was Herbology. It was good to see Unc- Professor Longbottom again. How was Muggle Studies yesterday?"

"Oh… different."

"Good different?"

"Just different. See..." I told her all about No-Maj studies at Ilvermorny.

"Wait, so you learn about how science and magic interact and counter each other and how to have them work together? And you learn _algebra?"_ Rose asked.

"Yup! It's super interesting," I confirmed.

"So, would you mind explaining how they _do_ work together?" Rose said curiously.

"Uh sure, here," I pulled out a pencil and notebook.

"You don't use parchment?" Rose said, not sounding surprised.

"No."

"Yeah, I did a little research on American wizards. I'd never heard about that non-verbal spell thing, though."

I shook my head to clear it and put my pencil on the paper. "Okay, so as to how magic and science work together. Do you know about the laws of physics and about chemistry and biology and all that?"

Rose stared at me blankly, so I took that as a no. "Well there are laws in physics such as the law of gravity, Newton's laws, all that. You know about gravity, I hope?" Rose nodded in confirmation. "Well there are other laws. For example, objects in motion stay in motion, you cannot be touched without being touched… you know what? Why don't I just give you an overview of physics."

I proceeded to teach Rose all about gravity and air resistance and free fall and… yeah. After about an hour, Rose grabbed her head. "Okay, I need a break."

I nodded. "Sounds good. Wanna just talk?" Rose nodded looking relieved.

"That was super interesting but my brain can't handle all that info at once."

I got that. My brain was like a nearly soaked sponge- it felt like it took a ton of effort to get all the uninteresting info to soak up, even though interesting things got sucked up like a dry sponge. Ah! Too many sponges!

"So, what's your family like?" I asked. Rose's eyes lit up.

"It's huge. My dad has five siblings and they are all boys except for Aunt Ginny. So, there's Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry and their kids are James, Albus, and Lily, then there's Uncle George and Aunt Angelina with Roxanne and Fred, Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey with Molly and Lucy, and Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur with Victoire, Dominique and Louis. And Uncle Charlie who is too obsessed with dragons to pay attention to romance. My mom's side isn't that big, really just my grandma because Grandpa Hugo died of cancer a few years ago," Rose finished.

"Wow," I said. "You really do have a huge family. My mom has two sisters and my dad is the only boy in a family of four. I have two cousins on my mom's side, but that's it. My parents are the only magical people in their generation. "

"You really do have a small family compared to me," Rose said, looking surprised. "You have an older sister, right? What is she like?"

"Amelia's great, despite how freaking irritating she is a l love her tons and we laugh a lot. I don't really know how to describe her, but…" I trailed off. Rose laughed.

"Yeah, I don't really know how to describe Hugo most of the time." We sat for a while not talking, Rose eating an orange. When she was finished, she stood up.

"I need to go meet Scorpius and Al in the library. Will you be okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll hunt down Dom and see what she's doing."

Rose smiled a soft smile, then leaned down and gave me a hug. It felt so nice and it reminded me so much of Amelia that I felt tears pricking the back of my eyes.

After Rose left, I grabbed my bag and hurried up to Ravenclaw tower. I held in my tears until I reached my dorm, where I checked to make sure there wasn't anyone in the bathroom before collapsing on the bed. Then I just let the tears leak out of my eyes. I hardly ever cried unless I was frustrated, but I surprised myself.

 _You're weak, crying._

No, I'm not, I argued.

 _*Evil laughter* good, good, you're fighting. YOU WILL THROW UP IF YOU EVEN MOVE. YOUR STOMACH HURTS AND YOU LOOK STUPID TO EVERYONE. YOU CAN'T TELL ANYOME ABOUT IT THOUGH, THEY'LL LAUGH, won't they?_

They will. I gave in. Merlin. I just want to be normal! I don't want to have to deal with all this stuff just because my stupid stomach decided that it should get a bug DURING A TRIP. I cried into my comforter until I felt Misty snuggle up against me. Then I calmed down a little. I muttered to her, just letting all my homesickness and anxiety flow out of me.

I was about to fall asleep when I heard the door open. I hurriedly wiped my eyes, trying to compose myself while hoping that my eyes weren't a tell-tale red.

"Eileen?" came a voice. I rolled onto my back, rubbing my face to try and disguise my eyes to see that Dominique had entered the room.

"How are you?" she asked.

"Okay," I said. Dom sat down on my bed and leaned against the post. She squinted at me.

"Were you crying?"

"No," I said quickly.

"You were crying. Why?"

"Just missing home, a little," I muttered vaguely. Dominique stared at me skeptically, but scooted up to lay next to me.

"If you need to talk, I'm here."

"Thanks," I said, sniffing. I closed my eyes and felt myself drifting off. Right before I fell asleep, I felt Dom get off the bed and lay a blanket over me.

Then I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

A/N: Eileen had her first classes! Exciting! And a breakdown! EEK! Review please!

W-W-A-J-A-L


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

"Dominiqueeee," I whined. "Don't make me eat that. It's nastyyy!"

I was sitting at the Ravenclaw table, my legs drawn up to my chest, attempting to enjoy my food. It had been harder and harder to eat lately. I kept seeing more 'what ifs?' than normal in everything. What if that made me sick? What if that made people realize that I have anxiety? What if…?

"Just try a bite! It's delicious!" Dominique waved a spoon around. Guess what was on the spoon? BLACK PUDDING. Hellooo, does that actually sound good to you?

"I still don't get how you think BAKED BLOOD sounds tasty," I said, pushing the spoon away from my face.

"Come onnn!"

"NO!" I said it harsher than I meant to. I grabbed my bag and stalked off towards the great, carved doors.

All around the edges of the room, House Elves were using their magic to carve the enormous pumpkins that Hagrid (the gamekeeper) had rolled in the day before. The air smelled like spices, too, what with Halloween being the next day and all. There was an air of excitement as the students prepared for the Hogsmeade visit (that was the magical village near Hogwarts. This was going to be the first visit of the year!) and following costume party/Halloween feast the next day.

I exited through the front doors and pulled my toasty-warm cloak around me. Over the past month I had been settling into the Hogwarts routine and one of the things I discovered was that I loved walking around the lake and grounds. The open spaces reminded me of Illinois and coupled with the fresh wind of autumn, I had felt freer to be myself. Autumn was strange that way because it made me more courageous to be the weirdo that I am.

I had made a real connection with Dominique. She was super fun and caring, but she wasn't a 'good girl'. She was kind of out there and not scared to be herself, whether that was wearing low cut tops and lipstick or wearing jeans and a hoodie or just being loud and singing. I admired her for the courage that she had to do that.

Jamie was also wonderful to hang out with. We loved to talk about art or just sit and draw together, occasionally looking up to give a suggestion as to where needed shading, etc.

As for the other girls in my dormitory, I hadn't grown as close to them. Ellie and I fangirled a lot, but Shayla and Caitlyn and I hadn't made the same kind of connection. Caitlyn was rather guarded, like she had on a mask that she couldn't crack. Shayla sort of acted like her body guard, although she and I had had a spontaneous debate with a few of her Slytherin friends once.

Rose and I hung out, but it was sometimes hard to since were in different houses. Rose was definitely exhilarating to be around, though. She was bold and fierce and hot tempered and after much poking and prodding I had discovered that she liked Scorpius. I instantly started shipping them. Scorpius was collected and he balanced out Rose's recklessness… and I'm starting to fangirl over real life people. What have I come to?

I lay down in a pile of leaves that Rose and I had made at the edge of the lake and covered myself with my cloak. I lay there, watching the clouds roll through the azure sky with the brisk wind.

"Hi, Eileen."

I sat up, put my mask back on and noted who was speaking.

"What's up?" Albus asked me. Merlin, he was cute.

"Oh, nothin' much," I said awkwardly. "You?"

"My brother was being irritating," he muttered.

"Ah, yes. Siblings do that," I teased. Al glared at me. Oh, have I forgotten to mention that Albus is definitely a thinker? I honestly don't know why he's in Slytherin. He would make a really good Ravenclaw, though I suppose Ravenclaws and Slytherins are quite similar in a lot of ways.

"Yeah, well, James is impossible. He can't refrain from teasing me for ONE minute."

I put my hand on Al's shoulder. "The secret is a mask."

"A what?" Al asked confusedly.

"A mask. Don't let him know you're irritated by you. Let it slip-slide off you like you're a greased hog."

"Thanks for comparing me to a pig," Albus said sarcastically.

"I totally see the resemblance," I noted.

"Scorpius said the same thing about the mask. Rose said to punch him in the nose. I don't like either option," Al said, sobering.

"So, make your own option."

"You sound so wise about this all."

"I'm literally the furthest thing from wise."

Albus stared at me like he didn't believe me. "You're wise."

I rolled my eyes. "Forget it. What are you doing about James?"

"I guess I'll blackmail him," Al sighed heavily.

"That always works," I said encouragingly. "Need any help?"

"No thanks, I have Lily who is all you need if you want to blackmail someone."

I remembered that Lily was Al's younger sister. She was nice, although we didn't talk much since she was a couple years younger than me.

"So, what's up with you?" Al asked me.

I sighed. "Homework. Thinking. I don't know. Learning about another country."

"Yeah, how is England different from America so far?" Al asked, bumping my shoulder gently.

"You guys say 'way out'," I said, laughing slightly.

"What?"

"You guys say 'way out' rather than 'exit' or something."

"OH." Al raised an eyebrow. he smiled. "Cultural misunderstanding, eh?"

"Yeah," I said softly. We gazed out over the lake for a while. My thoughts turned inward and instantly I sat up straighter. Al glanced up.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, trying to sound like I was. My breathing started quickening and I felt my eyes widen a little. I swallowed hard, over and over and fiddled with my hair.

"You don't look so good- did you see a ghost?" Al observed.

"No, I'm fine," I insisted.

"You don't look fine."

Merlin, why couldn't he just go away? He was making it worse. I couldn't just fight the fear, I had to fight the fear AND conceal it. _Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know. Make one wrong move and_ … I almost giggled at that. Al was still studying me. I'd been so focused on my thoughts that I wasn't sure what I had done.

I stood up and grabbed my purple backpack. "I'm gonna go inside."

Al scrambled to his feet and walked with me. God, couldn't he just LET IT GO? Hey, that was pretty good. Two Frozen puns in two minutes. I mentally high-fived myself.

"Okay, you are seriously freaking me out," Al said, looking at me like I had just farted. Wait, had I?

"Why?"

"You spaced out and started breathing weirdly and got all fidgety and just then you clapped your hands together."

Shoot.

"Are you sure you're not a seer or something?"

"I'm definitely not," I replied shakily.

"Good," Al exhaled.

"I'm going to go to the basement now. Jamie and I are meeting up in the kitchens to paint."

"By the food?"

"I had a similar reaction when Jamie suggested it," I noted the look on Al's face. "But the House Elves don't mind, so long as we clean up our own mess."

Oookay. I'm going to go find Rose and Scorp, see you," Al waved and walked off down the steps. I continued on to the painting of fruit that the entrance to the Hogwarts kitchen was hidden behind. I tickled the pear and stepped inside.

"Eileen!" I was tackled by a hug. I spit out a piece of blonde hair.

"Hi Dom," I greeted my friend.

"I'msosorrythatItriedtoforceyoutoeatthatblackpudding I hope I didn't offend you are you okay wherewereyou?" Dominique said this all in one breath.

"Whoa, whoa." I put my hands up. "Don't worry about it. Calm down. I was just kind of crabby."

Dom breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, still, sorry."

"How's the painting going, Jamie?" I asked, turning my attention to the dark-skinned girl at an easel.

"Ooookay," she said slowly, not taking her eyes off the canvas.

I swung my bag off my shoulder and sat down in front of my canvas. It really was not good. I'm a terrible painter. I was trying to paint a sunset but it really just looked like a bunch of colors smeared around.

As I dabbed up a little paint from Jamie's palette, Dom sat down at a table and started to eat. I had no clue where she got the food from, because there weren't any House Elves around, but anyway.

I stroked a little paint through my sunset.

"Does anyone want to do this thing I thought of called honesty hour?" Jamie piped up. Dominique and I glanced up.

"What's involved in this 'honesty hour'?" Dom asked. Jamie set down her paintbrush.

"We ask random questions to get to know each other better," she explained. "I know we know quite a bit about each other- she gestured to herself and Dom- but I figured that it'll help us all get to know each other better."

Dom thought about it for a moment. "It could be fun."

Jamie looked to me. "Uh, sure." I said.

"Brilliant!" Jamie clapped her hands together. "I'll ask a question… What's your full name?"

Dominique opened her mouth then closed it. "Dominique Celeste Weasley," she finally answered. I started.

"That is so pretty!" I said. Dom frowned. "Seriously," I said, "Some people like me have the worst middle names."

"What is it?" Jamie queried.

"Eileen Diane Holcombe is my full name."

"Why don't you like that?" she asked in disbelief. "It's amazing compared to mine!"

"Well, what is yours?" I prodded, giggling.

"Jamie Shauna Thomas."

"Tell me, how is that terrible?!"

"Honestly, no one likes their middle name," Dom muttered playfully.

I grinned. "True dat."

We ended up getting sidetracked from our game and just chatting about random stuff. Jamie and I would randomly put a stroke of paint here and there and one-time Dominique ran around the table, grabbed my paintbrush, and swiped it across my cheek. This caused her to get the idea of face painting, so I painted a bunch of stars on her cheek and Jamie did an elaborate jeweled serpent for my house pride. I attempted to do a daisy on her, but I failed. Jamie said she liked it, but I didn't think it looked like a daisy at all.

Eventually we emerged from our cozy kitchen space just to run into an out of breath Rose, who was wearing Quidditch robes and holding a broom.

"Terrible practice," she panted. "No one paid the slightest bit of attention to the bloody captain."

Dominique chuckled. "You'll be fine. First match is Gryffindor/Hufflepuff, right?"

Rose nodded in confirmation. "Want to have dinner with me?" she asked. We agreed and went to sit at the Gryffindor table.

Over the month I'd met the rest of her family, which had been nice, if not a bit over-whelming considering how many there were. I mostly stuck around Rose, Hugo, Scorpius, Albus, and my roommates, though.

"Do you want some chicken and ham pie?" Rose asked, pulling me out of my reverie.

"Oh, um, sure," I said. I felt surprisingly calm, but the minute I took a bite all my damn anxiety came flooding back into the corners of my mind. I gripped the fork a little tighter and forced myself to take another bite.

"Nervous for the match?" I heard a drawl that I had come to associate with Scorpius Malfoy say.

Rose, to whom he'd been speaking, smirked. "Never."

"Well, we'll see once you're up against Al and me match after next," he grinned, taking a seat. "Speaking of whom, should be here soon. He had to stop after class to go over some homework he failed on."

"I told him not to wait," Rose sighed.

Scorpius snorted. "When has he ever listened to you about school?"

"You've got a point."

I took my last bite of pie, effectively clearing my plate. I inwardly grinned. I had actually succeeded in eating a meal without spitting some into my napkin!

"I think I'm going to go up to my dorm," I said. Dom stood up with me.

"I'm done, too." She wasn't. Half her plate was there still. I noticed her and Rose exchange looks, but I had no clue what about. We left the hall, huffing our way up the stairs. About halfway to the tower, Dominique stopped. I noticed and stopped, also.

"What's wrong?" she asked, flat out.

I looked at her in confusion. "Did I say something was wrong?" I asked, even though I knew she was talking about my weird eating habits.

"Yeah, you are _really_ skinny and you don't eat hardly anything. I ask you because I care about you. Do have you know," she paused a little. "-anorexia or something?"

I stared at my friend. I almost laughed. She had it so, so wrong. I worried about my weight. Not in the way she thought, though. I worried that I was _too_ skinny and that I was somehow abnormal. And what of I had an abnormality that made me throw up more? Maybe it hadn't manifested itself yet, but I could get sick any time. Literally, right now I could get all pale and my stomach would start to churn and- I stopped my thoughts. I was going to have a panic attack if I went down that train of thought.

"No, I don't," I muttered. Dom stared at me with pleading eyes. "I swear, I don't," I insisted.

"I just don't want you to, because you're beautiful and-"

I cut her off. "I really don't. Don't worry about it. I just don't need as much food as some people." Actually, I had to stay away from any 'dangerous' food and all food was 'dangerous' so I had to stay away from food and I'd be fine. I could tell Dom didn't buy my excuse, though. Damn, why did she have to be such a good people reader? All the questions made I felt like I had nowhere to go.

"Okay, but if you do and you aren't telling me, there will be hell to pay. I care too much about you not to help you if you do."

I rolled my eyes. "Why do you care so much about me? We've only known each other for a month." I asked as we started to walk again.

Dom snorted. "We've been living together, we know each other pretty well for people who just met a few weeks ago. Besides, if some stranger in Slytherin or anywhere else had anxiety or depression or was anorexic then I'd do anything to help them. I'm like Al in that way."

"Al?"

"He had some-" Dom stopped short. "You know what, forget I said anything."

I narrowed my eyes at her, but let it go. We had arrived at the knocker and I stepped forward to bang it and get our question.

"What is the best pun?" the knocker asked.

Dom stared at it. "Seriously?" she asked. "I hate when she does opinion questions."

We hemmed and hawed for a while. Finally, I thought of one. "One for the gopher, two for the gopher, three for the gopher, four don't go far." I said confidently.

The knocker sighed. "Good enough." The door opened.

"Thank you, Little house," I muttered.

"You've read those?" Dom asked excitedly.

"Yeah, you?"

"Yup!"

"Coolll." I left Dom at the bookshelves where she was finding a book for her Charms homework and went up to bed.

* * *

The next day was the Hogsmeade visit. We went down to eat a quick breakfast before walking into the village. Dominique, Jamie, Rose, Scorpius, Al and I were all going to hang together today, so we bundled up, gave our permission slips to Professor Longbottom, and set off.

As we walked, we chatted about all sorts of things.

"Where do you want to go first?" Rose asked. The group thought for a minute.

"Honeyduke's," Al said decisively.

"Definitely," Dom agreed. After walking for a few more minutes along the path, the village of Hogsmeade came into view.

It was a little town. The cottages were thatched and shops lined the main street. Everywhere colorful leaves were blowing off the trees. It was literally the most picturesque town I'd ever seen. We walked about halfway down the street before stopping in front of a shop. In the window, signs advertised things such as '50% OFF Drooble's!' and 'Get your cockroach clusters here! 100% cockroach guaranteed' and one big one that read in fancy painting 'Honeyduke's: Magical Treats and Sweets'.

Scorpius held the door open as we filed in. The inside was stacked floor to ceiling with shelves stuffed with sweets, some I recognized and others I didn't. There were Acid Pops and Chocolate Frogs and caramel and an entire wall dedicated to chocolate of all types, white to one hundred percent cacao.

Rose and Al immediately grabbed my arms and yanked me down one of the aisles. "See the Bertie Bott's?" Al asked, pointing.

"And the star's." Rose swirled her hand through the air, pointing at the ceiling. I looked up to see what were, indeed, stars.

"They're made from Fizzing Whizbees," Al informed me. "If you can get one down without magic or climbing on the shelves, you can get them for free." I raised an eyebrow.

"And over there are the unusual sweets-" Rose indicated a corner. Al tugged on my other arm.

"Don't go over there, those are nasty." He pulled me over to the chocolate wall and chose a bar, handing it to me. "Now, this is my very favorite," he said. "It is sweet, sticky caramel enveloped in a smooth coating of the greatest milk chocolate in the world." Al sighed dreamily. "Soo many memories."

"You sound like a TV commercial," I said, laughing slightly. Al pulled away to stare at me.

"These should become the next president of America," he said, dead serious and holding up his chocolate.

"Hey! My cat is already lined up for that position," I said, putting my hands up. I made a face at Al.

"Come on and let's go find our friends and see what they're getting," Rose laughed.

"'Allooo," Dom said, popping up behind me. "I shall take you to get the very best candies."

"I was going to show her!" Al whined.

"You just spent five minutes rhapsodizing about chocolate, shut up," Dom ordered. Al pouted but allowed her to drag me away.

She led me over to a display stacked high with boxes of Bertie Botts' Every Flavor Beans. "Do you like these?" she asked, shaking a box in my face.

I swatted her hand away. "We don't have those in the U.S. We just eat Jelly Belly, though there is a magical branch of the company run by wizards and they make weirder flavors."

"What is the grossest flavor you've ever gotten?" Dominique asked.

I thought for a minute. "Ink."

"Ink? As in, quill ink? Or pen ink?"

"Pen ink. What about you?"

"Worms."

I curled my lip. "Nasty."

Dominque nodded, plucking another box off the shelf and shoving it into my hands. "Take 'em." I took 'em.

We wandered around the shop a while longer before rejoining with the others and heading out to go to Zonko's Joke Shop.

"It isn't as great as Uncle George's shop, but it serves our pranking needs," Rose said mischievously.

"I will never get how you lot can pull off so many pranks," Jamie said, shaking her head in wonder.

"Oh, they have methods that are beyond what any of us mortals could come up with," Scorpius joked. He held the door once again, this time at Zonko's and as Rose passed, he took her hand and kissed it playfully. "After you, m'lady."

I didn't miss the slight blush painted across Rose's cheeks.

Zonko's was similar to Honeyduke's in that it was full from floor to ceiling, but the merchandise instead consisted of various things such as 'Dr. Filibuster's Wet Start Fireworks' and dental floss so strong it could support the weight of a 'Muggle Car!'

Dominique, Rose, and Albus were the main ones to buy stuff there, stocking up on things that I didn't want to know what they did. Scorpius wandered off to look at some Tar Gum 'It looks like regular gum but the minute they bite down, their teeth turn black!', so Jamie and I poked around random places.

"Did you know that Zonko's is a fifth-generation business?" she shared.

"Cool."

We didn't talk much, since I was looking at all the pranks, but when the others were done looking, we convened at the checkout counter.

After the others had paid for their things, we went to lunch at a cozy pub called the Three Broomsticks. I got fish and chips, after much hemming and hawing as it seemed the safest option. We also ordered butterbeer, which was basically like liquid butterscotch chips. It was amazing and I was too distracted to have much anxiety, which I was grateful for.

After lunch, we walked around more. I saw a tiny, falling down, house that was called the Shrieking Shack. Apparently, Rose had camped out there for a week in her second year 'because it was funnnn' and Dominique had joined her for a night.

When the sun started to sink, painting the sky with yellowy orange hues, we began making our way back to the castle. We needed to get back to our common rooms to put on our costumes.

Our little group had been working on them over the weekend together in this magical room called the Room of Requirement. Rose had shown it to me one day when we wanted to chat in a more comfortable place than the Great Hall and somewhere we wouldn't get yelled at for chatting (aka the library).

Once we arrived back at the castle, we all headed up to the Room to put our costumes on.

Rose was going as Merida from Brave, which I told her was perfect since she literally _was_ Merida. She'd found a dress and we'd altered it with magic and No-Maj techniques. She had a bow slung over her shoulder and along with her arrows she'd put her wand in her quiver.

Jamie was dressed as a Golden Snidgets band member. She was wearing jeans, a colorful tunic, and bright orange scarf. She actually didn't look that different from her usual self, other than the enormous 'SNIDGETS' written in sparkly letters on her back.

Dominique and Scorpius were going as Luke and Leia because they were incredible Star Wars nerds. They'd darkened their hair magically and they looked great. They'd tried to get Al to dress up as Obi-Wan, but failed spectacularly. Albus instead had decided to go as his grandmother (?) I had no clue why, but all I know was that he looked hilarious in his red wig that had been provided by the Room of Requirement. He was wearing a flowered dress and apron and Rose had teasingly tried to shove balloons down his shirt, causing them to get into a friendly duel that ended with the balloons (thankfully) popped and Albus happily boob-free.

I had decided to dress as Rapunzel, as a throw back to my first day and the hair growing hex. I had added length magically to a purple shirt of mine and Jamie had helped me fit it and add petticoats. I'd tied it with a sash and Scorpius had done the hair growing hex (he had good control over how to stop it). My hair ended up dragging about three feet on the ground. Rose had jokingly suggested that I grow it out to be as long as Rapunzel's, which I promised we could do later.

Once we were all dressed up, we made our way through the throng of excited kids, most in costume. Some people had some really creative costumes! I saw Colin who was dressed as a tooth (whattt?) but didn't stop to say hello.

We entered the Great Hall to see live bats flying around and the huge Jack oi' lanterns glowing, not very menacingly albeit, in the corner. We sat down at the Gryffindor table since there was free seating and most of Rose's family was there. I noticed that Hugo was dressed as a Rubik's cube, which was very clever but he seemed to be having some trouble sitting down. I could see Fred (one of his cousins) poking him and making him lose his balance every time he managed to sit down properly. I stifled a chuckle.

McGonagall stood up and made a speech that I honestly didn't listen to, as I was too busy simultaneously trying to calm my anxiety which was flaring up really bad after being barely moderate for the day and trying not to think about the fact that Albus was really cute, even dressed as his grandmother. After a few minutes, I was startled by the pop! the food made as it appeared in front of us. I took a hamburger and some pumpkin pie and started to eat. I shoved the food down my throat despite really wanting to push it away and run off to a secluded spot away from all the noise and eyes. The pumpkin pie was still pretty great, though.

The everyone in the hall moved around, chatting and comparing costumes. Around nine o'clock, McGonagall called for everyone to leave, so our group left to go back to the RoR (Room of Requirement).

"You need to sing the Ilvermorny song to us! You never did!" Dominique shrieked as we crashed on the couch.

I faltered. "Oh."

"Come on, get up there." Rose shoved me up.

"Well, I'm not a good singer."

"Doesn't matter. It's just your school song, how bad can it be?" she smirked. I knew she had the Hogwarts song in mind.

"Fine, but if I cause you deafness, don't sue me."

"We shan't."

I caught Al looking at me sympathetically and opened my mouth.

" _We stand as one united  
Against the Puritan  
We draw our inspiration  
From good witch Morrigan  
For she was persecuted  
By common wandless men  
So she fled from distant Ireland  
And so our school began  
Oh, Ilvermorny-Massachusetts  
We choo-choose it  
We choo-choose it  
The wizard school supreme  
Your castle walls, they kept us safe  
The days with you, a dream  
You taught us all our magic  
And now one thing's quite clear  
Where'er we roam  
Where'er we roam  
Our one true home  
Our one and own  
Is Ilvermorny dear."_

Everyone started clapping.

"That was great!" Dom cheered.

"I dunno," I muttered, blushing and staring at my feet.

"Who's up for some long hair?" Rose shrieked before sending the hair hex at me.

"Hey!" I glared at her as my hair immediately began to shoot out from my head. I plopped down on the couch and Rose moved down to play with my hair.

"Why're you doing that?" I asked incredulously.

"Because she's Rose and Rose is crazy," Scorpius deadpanned.

We sat there for a few minutes before Al took pity on me. "Finite incantem," he muttered, pointing his wand at my hair, which was now roughly thirty feet long.

"Stop it!" Rose glared, recasting the charm. Al rolled his eyes and stopped the charm again, only to have Rose recast it.

"Why is she so obsessed with growing my hair out?" I sighed. Dom shook her head, smiling.

"That's Rose for you," she said.

Finally, my hair was satisfactory to Rose, who stopped the charm and pulled me up.

"Let's see what you can do," she smirked. I folded my arms.

"No way."

"Yes way."

"I'm not moving from this spot."

" _I'm not moving from this spot."_

"Don't start that."

" _Don't start that."_

I lunged forward, grabbing Rose's arm. "Why are you hitting yourself, why are you hitting yourself, why are you hitting yourself."

"Stop it!" she protested. I grinned and let go of her arm.

"We really need some beams or something so I can climb my hair," I said, squinting up at the ceiling. "Since you just won't give up."

"You really want to," Rose teased.

I rolled my eyes. With one swipe of my wand, my hair was off my head and I was left with a saner haircut.

"Why would you doooo, that?" Rose whined. "It was amazing."

"It was giving me a headache, grow out your own hair." I flopped down on the sofa and stared up at the ceiling. I heard the others sit down around me and felt two people pressing in on me. I glanced over to see Dominique on one side and Rose on the other. Scorpius curled up at the end of the sofa on Rose's end and I could tell she was blushing again and Albus and Jamie were crashed in armchairs. Everyone looked so peaceful as they dropped off to sleep, that I drifted off not two minutes later.

* * *

A/N: Eileen's thoughts might seem a little crazy/over obsessive in this chapter, but I'm just trying to show what it feels like to have anxiety. If you think it sounds weird, let me know in a review! Or any other feedback, review!

W-W-A-J-A-L


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